Pale Selves
by KeiAlways
Summary: Kazekage Gaara requests help from the Leaf in training a medic team... Little does he know the medic teacher he requested will change his entire life. Things will never be the same again. GaaraxOC, SasukexOC
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

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><p>The sun shone hotter and brighter than she'd ever known was possible, in this land. Looking up at the dry sky and swiping her hand across her forehead, the small medic-nin from Konohagakure pondered where exactly she was. Deciding it was best to check, and mentally calculating how long it had been since she'd seen a landmark of any sort, the brunette rifled through a bag resting on her well-shaped hip. It didn't take her long to produce a somewhat worn-out map, which she quickly unfurled and squinted at.<p>

Looking back up at the whirling sands of the desert, a mixture of fear, wonder and excitement left her normally expressive face blank, her bright blue eyes hidden in her lashes from squinting against the wild sun and wind. Soon though, the young girl smiled in her usual, cheerful way and packed her map back into her bag, continuing her nearly-complete journey to the mystic Land of Sand.

Little did she know of the many things that awaited her in that unfamiliar country.


	2. 1: I Felt The Stars Explode

**Chapter 1: I Felt The Stars Explode**

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><p>"Miss Amehana, we've been expecting you."<p>

The small medic looked up, a bit startled by the soft, foreign voice that already knew her identity. Her bright eyes opened fully for the first time since she'd begun her trek four days earlier as she took in a sight she was wholly unprepared for.

There in front of her stood the Kazekage, Lord of the Sand Lands. Seventy different worries about her lateness and her looks flashed through her, all cut off by her swift drop into a very low bow.

"L-Lord Kazekage!" She exclaimed in reverence, wondering if she'd broken some unfamiliar Sand-Lands taboo yet. She had a feeling that if she hadn't yet, it would be soon.

The Kazekage blinked at her, somewhat surprised.

"Miss Amehana, you took a while to get here... Are you alright?" His soft voice made it sound more like a statement than a question as his turquoise eyes looked her up and down for blood or injury. The surprisingly attractive Konoha medic had scratches and bruises, to be sure, but nothing that seemed to him to be major.

A deep flush found it's way onto the otherwise pale kunoichi's face, her eyes staying downcast out of shame.

"Y-You know, sand is... Pretty slippery... And it can bury you!" At the last part she looked up, unable to hide her mild astonishment at how easily she'd gotten stuck in normal sand. Her electric blue eyes locked with his sea-green for a few wonder-filled moments, the foreign shinobi taking in how young, familiar, and surprisingly beautiful the Kazekage was, and the Sand Lord staring into the optimistic depths of the kunoichi's seemingly bottomless water-like eyes.

Quickly though, feeling she was probably breaking some part of the sand-land social code, Lady Amehana, whose first name was Keitorin, turned her eyes from his, embarrassment returning the hot flush of color again to her cheeks.

"Yes... That is the nature of sand." Gaara confirmed to her slowly. "You can follow me to the room where you'll be staying now, you must want to rest before we talk about why you're here."

"Oh, no." Keitorin interjected politely when his gentle but impersonal voice had faded. "Really, I'm not tired at all, and I'm very curious. Lady Tsunade told me I was here to teach a medic, or something of that sort, but she wanted me on my way quickly, and said I'd be informed when I got here." A sweet smile spread on her pale strawberry lips. "Well, I'm here!"

Just then, someone slammed a door nearby. Lord Kazekage and his pretty guest, as well as the various guards surrounding the two all turned to see his sister, Temari, in all of her tall, tan and blonde-haired glory coming in out of the winds.

"Gaara-kun!" She called, smirking and waving to them as she closed the door before strolling over. "Ahh, I see the medic from Konoha finally arrived!" Temari's forest green eyes surveyed the smaller girl with a distinct glimmer of mischief, before she lifted the self-conscious Keitorin's chin up with one long finger. "She's a pretty one. And the Hokage's apprentice, I hear."

"Yes." Gaara answered simply, not saying anything else or replying to her other comments. His older sister grinned, looking devilish to Keitorin, making the foreign medic shrink back a bit as a result. Almost as though she sensed it, Temari turned to her, a diplomatic and polite smile replacing the almost scary grin.

"If you need any help with anything, feel free to ask me. Coincidentally, I just returned from a visit to the Leaf. I want your stay here to reflect well for Suna." The blonde winked at Keitorin before turning to make her exit. "Just ask a guard to show you my room or locate me. Feel free to wait in my room if I'm not there. Toodles!" With that she threw a key over her head, which Keitorin caught. When she looked up again from her hands, Temari was gone. Gaara stared down at her.

"Shall I show you your room" He offered again, seeming somewhat annoyed at his sibling's intrusion. His guest slipped the key into a pocket of her dress, smiling kindly but somewhat shakily back up at him as she tried to regain her composure from the spectacle only moments before.

"Y-Yes of course, i-if you will, please!"

"We can talk of your duties there." Gaara added as he looked over her shoulder to the guards, who nodded and were gone in a flash, further unnerving Keitorin He turned his beautiful but pale eyes back to the shorter girl. "Let's go."

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><p>The doorknob of the room closest to the Kazekage's office turned slowly as Gaara-sama worked the key into it. Tired as she was, the medic Keitorin couldn't help but look around with wide eyes, taking everything in as much as she could. Within time her host gently pushed the door open, letting her in first. The polite girl shuffled in quickly and the red-head followed, closing the door behind him. He sat in a chair at the desk near the door.<p>

Keitorin moved to the center of the room, looking around in awe as she spun in a small circle. Delight filled her eyes as she took it all in; the room was perfect. It would be close to the Lord Kazekage so she couldn't have to go far to ask him questions or receive orders. In regard to the room itself, it was very spacious, with a large bed. By the marks on the floor, it was clear that there had just recently been 2 beds, but they must have rearranged it for her arrival, the thought of which made the brunette's cheeks heat up. The room was circular, with a majority of the wall facing the door constructed of glass, with a sliding door that led onto a large balcony. About a third of the total wall space was taken up by this large window, though it had thich curtains. The bed itself was a conopy bed, which she had heard were common in the sand lands.

The desk at whcih the Kazekage currently sat was rather large, with many drawers. Gaara watched her reaction patiently before quietly interjecting.

"You won't have a seperate office and bed room. I hope that's okay." Keitorin spun around to look at him, and was struck with wondering if he ever smiled.

"That's perfectly fine, thank you so much!" Totally pleased, the kunoichi sat on the bed, facing Gaara. "So, care to explain my duties? And then I'll get out of your hair." The small-statured but curvy 16-year-old beamed at him. He looked down a bit.

"It's no trouble." Looking back up, their eyes met again, his powerful gaze interlocking with her gentle, kindly eyes. It felt comfortable for her, and she shifted on the bed, awaiting the information he held. "I want to train a medic squad. We have very few here, and I had heard that in the Leaf, since Lady Fifth is a healer as well, there were some powerful medics." The Lord sighed quietly. "I only hoped they would have one that was patient, who could teach. I asked Lady Fift about this and she sent you." He was a man of few words. Keitorin understood, and nodded.

"Absolutely, Kazekage-sama. If you could give me a week or so to prepare some starting lessons, I would be eager to meet the students you propose." The young leader nodded back to her.

"That gives me time to assemble the squad." Before he could say anything more, she gently interrupted.

"4-6 students to begin with, if you will, Kazekage-sama." As she said this he stood up, and she looked up at his stoic face. "Training a medic is a time-consuming effort, but I'm sure I can get it down to a science with some time." She didn't mention that her own sensei, Tsunade, had been working with her on a such an idea for a while already. It didn't seem necessary to mention, though inwardly she smiled; this was just the oppurtunity she and the Lady Hokage had been looking for; it was no wonder she had been dispatched so quickly to Gaara's lands.

He sensed that she was keeping something from him, but couldn't quite imagine that such a sickeningly naive and sweet girl could want to deceive him. Still, he made a mental note to keep an eye on her as he looked down at the similarly young medic nin.

"Very well, Amehana-san." The regal man turned to leave, but stopped as he heard his guest call out.

"You can call me Keitorin, Kazekage-sama." Gaara turned around to see the girl on her bed, still seated. The setting sun blazing in the window behind her cast a celestial red glow on her eyes and cheeks. She smiled very warmly at him, making him stop a moment at the unexpected sight.

"V-Very well." He stammered and closed her door swiftly behind him.


	3. 2: The Words I Never Showed

Chapter 2: The Words I Never Showed

_Red. That's all there was, all she could see. Splashed on the walls, on his clothes, and on hers. The lighter red of her baby sister's hair, identical to their mother's. But even that comfortingly bright red was matted with the thick, dark red that was slowly consuming the walls of the compound. Her whole world. She looked down at her baby sister, and where a sweet, pleasant smile should have been, the child's chocolate brown eyes were wide. She was screaming. The man's sword was in her back._

_"Save me, Keitorin!"_

_Save her, Keitorin._

"Tomonori!"

The scream tore through the hot night-time air as a pale medic kunoichi shot up from her bed. Wildly, her hands grabbed the sheets, then traveling to her face and her hair as the panic bubbled forth and eventually subsided. The pretty girl was drenched in sweat, the canopied bed stifling her and making her claustrophobic. Immediately she threw the blnaked off herself and swung her legs to the side of the bed, hastily swatting the curtain away. Even in the wispy, sleeveless green nightgown she was wearing, the room seemed unbearably hot.

Her legs were shaky, but Keitorin Amehana stood up and walked away from the bed. She;d been in the land of sand for five days now, this being her first nightmare since she'd arrived. They were always inevitable. The medic's pale fingers brushed across her work, which she had already finished early, and she bit her lip. She needed something to do, or to get out of here.

In the dark of the room her eyes traveled to the robe hanging next to the door, but the sweat still lingering on her smooth skin made her shudder at the idea of putting it on. Her fingers found their way to her collar, which she fluttered back and forth to create a small breeze. To her dismay, even that tiny bit of air was quite warm. It was like an oven in the room.

The bright blue eyes flitted to the robe one last time before she opened the door to the outside, but she shrugged it off. It was the middle of the night, a glance at the clock telling her 3am, if she wanted to be precise. All the guards were stationed outside the palace-like mansion. No one would see her, of that she was pretty confident.

She slipped out the door and into the much cooler air of the hallway, pushing her thoughts away from any misgivings. Still, Keitorin couldn't help but wrap her arms around herself shyly as she began her somewhat reckless trip out of her room. It wasn't an option after that nightmare, but she'd gotten lost in this mansion before. She couldn't worry about it just then.

The brunette looked at the paintings on the walls as she pondered on her tie spent here, her small feet padding gently along the tile hallway. It had been very pleasant. The work was enjoyable, and it was a very pretty place to work, despite the sometimes obnoxious, constant infiltration of sand from the outside. It was also a great distraction from her usual fretful worrying about her lover.

Without any thought or intention to, her eyes immediately went down at that thought. She bit her lip and squeezed her arms as though to comfort herself. Keitorin's lover, Sasuke, was arguably the most wanted man in all the lands at that time. She had last seen him about 3 months earlier, when he'd crawled in her window, as he often did. A slight smile graced the kunoichi's attractive feagures. She had been in the Grass village at that time. How Sasuke always found her was a complete mystery to her. In her many travels, she often hoped to find him. Rarely, he found her. But she never, ever found him.

Inevitably, her thoughts moved back to the good times, as they always did. A somewhat melancholy smile glued itself to her pretty mouth as she remembered dates and missions they shared. She'd known Sasuke since she was 8 or 9, and they'd been together since they were 12 or 13. She was 16 now.

The Konoha ninja stared at her hands remorsefully. She'd grown so much in the last few years, but she couldn't bring herself to forget Sasuke Uchiha. She still loved him with all of her heart, and always had. Her small fist clenched under the gaze of her blue eyes. She always would.

But even as Keitorin of the Rain swore that bittersweet promise to herself for the millionth time, guilty thoughts of another man seeped into her mind, and she sighed. She was almost getting cold now, and walked forward a bit faster, with a bit more purpose, as she held her small frame tightly against the cold.

* * *

><p>In a room nearly on the complete other side of the palatial mansion, the Kazekage stirred. He could feel that someone was moving around someplace near, as surely as he could feel the blanket over his feet. Slowly, methodically, he closed one eye and summoned his sand-eye, just the same way he did in the Chuunin exams. With his other eye he watched the sand filter under the door and into the light leaking out. The movement he felt was gentle, which was uncharacteristic of both of his siblings, especially at night when they would be groggy and cranky. It was also coming from the direction of his office. To Gaara, this gave two options of who it could possibly be: an assassin, or the young kunoichi he'd requested from the leaf, Keitorin Amehana. Either way, he wondered what this night-time walker was looking for.<p>

Gaara had heard the earlier scream, though he knew most of the house had probably slept straight through it. It didn't surprise him; his siblings were deep sleepers, but he vaguely wondered who the 'Tomonori' of his guests' scream had been. The name sounded familiar, though at the moment the red-haired lord couldn't place it. Perhaps it was the name of a boy in the village. A very small smirk danced onto his face. Maybe the innocent, naive Keitorin was actually a slut.

As his all-knowing sand worked it's way cautiously down and through the halls, Gaara's smile quickly faded into his usual serious expression. If there was an assassin, he would be caught. But why would the Konoha medic be up in the dead of night, especially if she had snuck a boy into his mansion?

The solitary man sighed as he began to explore his thoughts. Keitorin could be a bit annoying to him at times, with her ignorance of anything wrong in the world. She could talk for hours about gardens, flower-weaving and healing. In a strange way, her hopeful and upbeat nature reminded him of Naruto Uzumaki. He made a mental note to ask her if she knew him sometime. Despite how naive she seemed to be of how the world actually worked, it was nice to have her around at times. She was like a breath of Konoha fresh air. His sister Temari loved her.

His eye of sand drifted to the corridor where the requested foreign help was confirmed as the nighttime trespasser groping through the mansion. A slight blush crossed the teenage lord's face as he saw the wispy, transparent green nightgown she wore. Silently he stood, swiping the thick brown robe hanging from his wall on his way out, almost instinctually controlling the sand to come back now that he'd found what he was looking for. Keitorin Amehana sure was something... Shivering in the cold hallways at 3 in the morning.

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><p>As 4am neared in the sand land's mansion, it seemed to Keitorin to get darker and colder. She was lost- this she knew, but somehow she didn't really care. Common sense said she couldn't be lost forever, after all.<p>

The corridors were dark and gloomy as she tiptoed quietly through, trying in vain to clear her mind of nightmares and Sasuke and instead think of happy things. It was a futile effort, but that didn't stop her from trying, every single time dark visions invaded her sleep and disrupted her nights.

Tentatively, Keitorin reached over and touched the cold wall with her hand, allowing it to steady her shaking figure as the pretty kunoichi rounded a mildly familiar-looking corner. She took a step forward, feeling assured by the concrete of the wall beneath her fingertips, and crashed suddenly into a tall, strong, and unmoving figure.

There was Gaara of the Sand, looking down at her with his calm and brilliant serious eyes. His met her own wide, lightning blue ones before she jumped back fretfull, bowing over and over as an apology, the nightgown fluttering in rhythm to her jerky movements.

"G-Gaara-sama, I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you, d-did I do something wrong?" At the last part, Keitorin looked up into the eyes of her flame-haired host, feeling sorely guilty.

"No. I just wanted to know why you were up and roaming. Are you cold?" As she had become accustomed to, the Kazekage's subtle voice made his question sound like a statement. As he said it, he pulled the warm brown robe into sight, offering it to his foreign guest. She blushed as her eyes flitted from the admittedly desired robe and then down to her nightgown and the shivering skin beneath it, well aware that there was no way she could say no.

"Th-Thank you." The pale brunette stammered, allowing him to slip the robe over her delicate shoulders, shuddering with the pleasant and sudden warmth.

"Not at all." Gaara offered back in reply, looking down at her, all swaddled up in his robe. Keitorin was blushing heavily as she looked up at him. He found it... almost endearing. Which brought him, consequentially, to another thought. "Do you know Uzumaki Naruto?"

The young medic looked down from him and smiled sweetly, in an almost melancholic and very far-off way.

"Oh yes, Naruto has always been a good friend of mine. He was close with one of the men who raised me." Remembering her place, Kei looked back up into Gaara's similarly pale face and smiled a more polite, public smile with her pretty strawberry lips.

"You remind me of him." Her host stated outright, his unreadable eyes searching her whole face openly for the first time. Somehow, she wasn't uncomfortable with this, but merely giggled politely at what he'd said.

"Oh, if I had energy like that, I'd be quite grateful. I certainly envy him that, and his confidence." Looking up without the mask, Keitorin's eyes were a dull, almost navy-blue color with the sadness that overwhelmed her when she was alone. Gaara took all of this in silently, somewhat surprised internally at this lapse in the kunoichi's optimism. As the two studied each other quietly in the dim 4am light of the corridor, a slight gleam made it's way into Keitorin's eyes, spreading like a spark of fire until her eyes had returned to their original electric blue- fascinating Gaara, though he knew the color fluctuations were due to her feelings affecting her kekkei genkai.

"You know who you remind me of," The brunette started slowly, her eyes fading in and out as she spoke her tender words. "My younger sister. She had your exact hair color... I think of her every time I look at you..." At this, she reached out and gently stroked a wisp of Gaara's pure red hair. He didn't shrink back or even move from where he stood like a statue, but Keitorin quickly blushed and pulled her small hand away. "I-I'm sorry-" She started to say, but the Lord Kazekage interrupted her.

"Tell me about your sister." He calmly asked, stepping to her side and beginning to walk next to her. This could be an interesting little interlude to a boring night, he thought. She stared up at him in awe as she saw a trace of a smirk on his face, for the first time. "Is she anything like mine, perchance?"

Keitorin's eyes faded quite a bit into their dark blue, and a small, sad sigh escaped her chest.

"I envy you, Kazekage." She told him sadly, a bittersweet smile painted on her small strawberry lips. "My brother and sister are dead. You have yours." He said othing in reply, seeming to meditate on that thought, waiting to hear what the kunoichi would reveal to him next. He hung onto her words out of pure curiosity to what could make such a naturally cheerful creature so bitter and sad. "Saraki wasn't much like Temari." She finally told him. "Of course, she was only four." Keitorin laughed, opening her eyes to stare quietly at the tile floor of the dark hallway.

The two walked for what seemed like a very long time, the only sound being that of Keitorin's small feet gently tapping on the tile floor, nearly in sync with Gaara's larger ones.

"What happened to your family?" The red head finally asked, cutting through the gentle silence. His voice was a bit strained, almost as though he were nervous- a thougth Keitorin quickly put out of her mind as silly. The petite but full-curved medic was quiet for a while before giving a nervous laugh.

"How about we go to the kitchen? Some hot chocolate would be nice."

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><p>Gaara stared at the steaming cup in his hand rather strangely. In all his years of life, he'd never been in a situation much like this one. But Keitorin looked much more at home now than she had in the cold, dark hallway, still wrapped up in his soft robe and drinking the hot beverage greatly with a cute smile plastered all over her bright face. Yet after seeing her so sorrowful nearly moments before, the Kazekage had a feeling this expression he'd taken as her natural one was but a well worn mask.<p>

After a couple of minutes, Keitorin set her cup down, capturing the sand lord's attention.

"You... wanted to know what happened?" She turned her blue eyes to him and he nodded. The graceful girl took a deep breath.

"When I was 8, my elder brother Tomonori, who was 12, decided to go into town, for one reason or another. I bitterly did not want him to go. I... didn't know why, but I knew I wanted him with me. He laughed at my pleadings, thinking I was playing, and told me..." Here the kunoichi took another breath, her voice hitching in her white throat. "He said 'I'll be back my dear sweet sister. I'll always come back.' Well, he left, and while he was gone..."

The Konoha nin looked up thoughtfully, and started again, on a different note.

"That day, 2 men escaped a prison. One of them had a grudge, against my father's brother, I believe... Mind you, my family and I lived outside the Rain Village, in a well-protected compound. However... The Amehana clan had been... already fading for some time." Keitorin had begun to swing her legs back and forth nervously, and now bit her lip, her eyebrows knitting together. "Despite the deplorable condition of the back roads... One of those escaped ninja came into our compound. He... killed my parents quickly. He was in the prison for a reason you know, quite dangerous, and psychotic to boot. My sister, though..." Tears began to pool on her obsidian lashes and slide quietly down the pale cheeks. Her face didn't move.

Gaara watched and listened with a hawk-like intensity, hardly believing what he was hearing, and eager to learn more. The storyteller took another shaky breath deep into her chest before continuing.

"My sister... He slashed her back with a sword, and she ran into my arms... She was screaming... 'Help me Keitorin, save me, big sister'... And..." Her soft, pale fingers crawled to her stomach instinctually as she winced at the mere thought. "The man ran through her with the sword while she was in my arms... The sword went into my stomach as well... The man left after that, and... My baby sister died in my arms." The medic sighed, too drained from the memory to even blush at the streams of tears pouring off her face from the fascinating eyes.

Gaara took all of this in the way he took everything in; quietly. But as Keitorin closed her flashing eyes, resigning her small frame to the gentle tears, the sand lord stood up and wiped away a trickle with his thumb; one, and then the other, making her look up to him in shock.

"Keitorin, I think you're beautiful."

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><p><em><strong>Whoo, chapter two! Ugh, that took soooo long to type. Please tell me of any spelling errors you might find, I type fast and wordpad... well you know. Please rate and review, but most of all, I hope you enjoyed! Chapter 3 will be up ASAP!<strong>_


	4. 3: A Broken Wing

**Chapter 3: A Broken Wing**

–

Keitorin Amehana stood in front of the full-length mirror propped against the wall, surveying herself with a stern eye. She watched her small, pale hand smooth the top section of her baby-blue and turquoise dress in the typical Amehana clan fashion. The young woman smiled to think about it, remembering the dresses her mother lovingly had sewn from a pre-wrought pattern, and how long it had taken her adoptive father, Iruka, to sew this one. It was fairly perfect in her pretty eyes, even if she could pick out the places one by one that she'd secretly had to re-sew or patch. The comfortable thought made her giggle, and the smile that went along with it was just the accessory she was looking for and had needed. She picked up the binder with all of her paperwork in it, the folder she'd assembled but a moment ago with all the papers she needed to turn into Gaara-sama, and went out the door.

As the small-statured kunoichi closed the nice wooden door behind her and began a brisk walk to the Kazekage's office in the center of the mansion, something blocked her way. Keitorin fell back against the door and looked up to see Temari of the Sand in all of her tall, strong beauty, smirking down at her.

"Temari!" The foreign brunette exclaimed, a look of shock gluing itself to her delicate features. "You're back from Konoha!" Soon, the scared expression gave way to excitement, bringing a healthy flush into her otherwise mostly colorless face.

"Your letters were received well, Kei-Chan." Temari grinned, ruffling the younger girl's soft brown locks. "And everyone's doing fine. Here." At this, the tan blonde handed the medic a stack of envelopes from behind her back. "Return letters." She smiled mischievously, anticipating her new friend's reaction. Keitorin's face lit up as she adjusted the numerous folders in her arms so she could take this second unexpected surprise.

"For me?" The smaller shinobi asked, delighted by the weight of the tied parcel.

"All for you, sugar plum." Temari confirmed. She'd taken a quick liking to the visiting girl, maybe because being a diplomat to the Leaf had made her more open to being friends with Konoha shinobi, or maybe because the other girl was just so cute and energetic. The blonde kunoichi didn't care to think of the reason, just enjoyed the smiles Kei gave her and the light she brought to the otherwise gloomy mansion, a piece of everything she loved about Konoha right here at home. "Why are you up so early?"

It was the question Keitorin was most hoping would be avoided. A dark blush hung off her pale cheekbones as her bright eyes flashed to the floor in mild shame. Temari watched her face for a couple of moments, deeply curious as to what was going on in the younger girl's mind.

"W-Well, the early bird gets the worm, as they say! Hahaha!" Even as she lied, flashes of the previous night assaulted her mind's eye; Gaara's hand on her face, and then her hand on his; His lips, which had looked so soft she'd found herself staring for an uncalled for length of time; the way he'd spoken, so softly, and then swiftly all business again, that subtle, sometimes raspy voice; and finally, the smirk he'd had when he mentioned Temari to her, the first smile she'd ever seen from the stoic Kazekage. She was sure she'd never forget it.

Her sandy-blonde companion raised an eye-brow at her but decided to let it go.

"Hey, why don't you come by my room for lunch later, and we can get caught up? Right now I have a meeting with some other friends." She stopped and looked at Keitorin inquisitively, her usual smirk melting into a serious expression. "I'd invite you to come with, but you have work, right?"

"Oh, yes!" The brunette piped up, her face and neck still feeling hot from the images bombarding her mind only moments before. She tugged on her collar distractedly. "Yeah, I need to get going. I'm sorry. But lunch, definitely!"

Temari couldn't help but laugh at the girl's clumsiness. She smiled warmly as she gently fixed the mess she'd made of the natural Konoha citizen's hair earlier.

"See you then, girly." With a wave, she departed, and Keitorin heaved a great sigh of relief, leaning against the wall. It was times like these she wished she had a watch. She didn't know what time it was exactly but the pretty ninja was in a hurry to drop off her paperwork before Gaara could make his way to his office and possibly see her. Then she'd leave the mansion to see if she could add to her work in the ways he'd asked her too in the days before she received her first medic class.

The way the tile floor tapped every time she took a step was almost unbearable to Keitorin but it wasn't nearly as loud as her heartbeat. It only quickened as the Leaf kunoichi worried more and more about being noticed the closer she came to her destination.

The slim, pale girl slipped into the Kazekage's office and dropped her folder solemnly on the well-organized table. A bit of regret flashed through her body as she remembered the long conversations they'd been having at this same desk since day one, and how well they made her forget her various troubles. In a Suna cafe, she knew she'd be lonely at very best, but she couldn't face Gaara, not today. The clever girl remembered back to the mirror that morning, and the circles under her eyes. He would know she'd been up all night. Maybe he'd even know she was thinking of him.

With a sigh, Kei closed her eyes to the thoughts and visuals harassing her conscience and slipped quietly out the door.

–

Temari was tired, but anyone just looking at her would have had no idea, thrown off by the smile residue left over from the friendly gathering that had just concluded and left her to less pleasant business. Her green eyes shone against her lashes as she walked purposefully down the decorated hall of the Kazekage mansion. The blonde beauty smiled and waved politely at everyone she passed until she finally found her destination. A more serious look melted into her face in tune to a deep breath as the travel-worn kunoichi girded herself for what she needed to do.

The Suna woman opened the door and knocked on it in the same breath, as she'd always done to both her brothers, regardless of their position or status. She forced a smile for Keitorin's sake as the door fell away from the frame, and was surprised to see her baby brother alone in his large, cold office.

The Sand Lord's sea-green eyes rose to meet his sister's, and they stared awkwardly at one another for a long moment, Temari blinking in confusion as she tried to take in what she was seeing. Keitorin had been a near permanent fixture in Gaara's offices for quite a while now, and it hadn't been too long ago that she'd actually seen the imported kunoichi leaving her room and going the direction of this very office. The strong woman shook it off and let herself in, closing the mahogany door behind her.

"Hello, Temari. You look well." Gaara greeted his eldest sister in his monotone voice. She nodded and sat down in one of the satin chairs that bordered the side of his desk facing the door, folding her arms on his desk as she prepared to deliver her important message.

"If Keitorin had been here, I would have told her to leave." Temari admitted, more or less addressing her surprise that she'd caught him at a time when Keitorin was gone. The arrangement of the beige chairs suggested that Keitorin hadn't visited at all that day. Gaara said nothing and she went on with a small, inaudible sigh. "I found out some things about Keitorin while I was in the leaf."

Her green eyes were watching her half-distracted brother intently, her suspicions confirmed when she finished the sentence. The siblings' green-spectrum eyes locked, the owner of the lighter ones dropping what he was doing to throw his attention into her message. A moment of silence passed.

"Go on." Gaara finally commanded shortly, realizing now what his sister had done and wanting to get past it. He could defend his reaction later if absolutely needed.

"Keitorin Amehana is well-liked throughout the village..." The diplomat started, sensing as her brother's anticipation grew. "But I also found out that she is the lover of Sasuke Uchiha. It... Is common knowledge within the village."

The Kazekage dropped his pen abruptly, it clattered loudly against his desk before audibly rolling off and again striking a hard surface, this time the floor. His face remained totally cool and expressionless. Finally looking down when the cylindrical instrument had come to a halt, he picked it back up distractedly and returned to sitting upright. His eyes did not travel back to his sister, or even her general area.

"It appears Tsunade wanted her to throw herself into a project, hoping she may forget him. She's apparently been doing this often with Keitorin. It was also Keitorin's dream to train a medic squad."

"I see. Thank you. You may leave now." Unspoken words hung in the air but Temari graciously ignored them, silently standing and turning to make her leave, kindly allowing her younger brother the space and air he needed to deal with this loud and sudden development.

–

2 hours later Keitorin was back in the mansion, sneaking about like a child searching for a cookie. She was a clumsy but methodical and well-prepared woman, but in her haste and unrivaled anxiousness that morning she'd forgotten a couple of papers that she needed.

The young shinobi had hemmed and hawed for a while before finally coming to the ultimate conclusion that there was no way around it- her duty had to come before her silly social trepidations. So the small girl had gotten up from her awkwardly lonely and secluded suna cafe table and started reluctantly back to the well-guarded Kazekage's mansion, her thoughts dark and brooding, hanging over her like a gray storm cloud.

But as Keitorin had drawn nearer to the mansion, she'd found a small glimmer of hope- Perhaps she could slip into her room without Gaara knowing she'd ever been in there at all, perhaps if she was fast enough. Somewhere in her mind she realized what a stupid and futile effort that was- Gaara was a good leader and always knew of any and every movement that came near the heart of his village, especially the mansion- but it was her only hope at this point.

Being trained as a shinobi, Keitorin was stealthy, but she also had a tendency to be clumsy that usually came out when she wasn't under pressure. The pressure in this situation only made her feel more awkward- If she was cauht sneaking about, it would be embarrassing, but not necessarily fatal. So the young kunoichi decided it was best to be swift rather than sneaky- basically, to just make a mad dash for it.

Her heart beat faster and faster as she conspicuously speed-walked her way to her destination, but as she should have known, a quick disturbance in the wind preceded a similarly quick entrance by Kazekage Gaara, standing in her path like a Greek statue; imposing and beautiful.

"Why have you avoided me today?" The red-haired lord stated directly, cutting directly to the chase as Keitorin had come to realize was very characteristic of him. Gaara was not the type to beat around the proverbial bush.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about." Keitorin stammered, her face and mind going blank in mild awe of his presence. No matter how many times she saw it, his face still struck her. Just like another man she knew.

Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly as his foreign guest peered meekly up at him, trying to come up with a better excuse than the crap she'd just given him. But something else was distracting her now- a flicker of pain in his beautiful eyes that baffled her. What could possibly be hurting this lord of men? But the curvaceous kunoichi pushed the thought from her mind as swiftly as it had entered- Gaara was strong, and she was wrong.

His eyes lingered on her face for a few moments before he simply stood to the side and opened the door, giving her room enough to enter his office.

"Forget it. Please come in, I took the liberty of retrieving some things from your room I thought you might need. I hope you don't mind. I'm sure my office is a better place to work than anywhere else you might have access to."

Keitorin relaxed a bit and nodded, thankful she'd cleaned her room that morning. The two shinobi disappeared together behind the door.

–

_**I'm sorry this took so long! Chapter 4 is already half-written, so that should be up relatively soon! Thanks for reading!**_


End file.
